riordan



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

D. W. RIORDAN.

REFRIGERATOR GAR.

No 491,496. Patented Feb. 7, 1893.

(No Model.) i 2 sheets-'esheet 2.

D. W. RIORDAN.

REFRIGERATOR GAR.

No. 491,496. Patented Feb. 7, 1893.

I I lmll l A a Q i hf Q a F f 6 e e s!a -|1H|1||W I #11 .714 WZ7Z6J|6 1v I I I g 172225 Wzrdafl.

PATENT OFFICE.

DENNIS W. RIORDAN, OF ELI-BURN, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO HELENA RIORDAN, OFSAME PLACE.

REFRIGERATOR-CAR.

SEECIFICATIONforming part of Letters Patent No. 491,496, dated February'7, 1893.

Application filed September II 1891. Serial No. 405,864. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern: narrower portion. The front, b of the lowerBe it known that I, DENNIS WV. RIORDAN, a section extends down only partway to the citizen of the United States, residing at Elfloor, but theback, b fills the entire space burn, in the county of Cook and State ofIllifrom roof to floor, as seen in Fig. 1. In the 5 nois, have inventedcertain new and useful front 13 there are openings, 1), in the upperImprovements in Refrigerator-Oars, which are portion just a little belowthe wide top section fully' set forth in the following specification,1). Within each of these chambers is an ice reference being had to theaccompanying tank, 0, mounted on suitable supports condrawings, inwhichnected to the sides and bottom of the car, but o Figure 1represents a central longitudinal elevated somewhat from the floor, asusual. section of a portion of a car embodying my Within each ice tankis a grating, 0, located improvements; Fig. 2, a cross-section of the alittle distance above the bottom of the tank, same, taken on the line 2,2, of Fig. 1; and and the ice rests upon this grating, as usual. Fig. 8,a detail plan section, taken on the line The tank space below thisgrating is divided 1 5 3, 3, of Fig. 2. by cross-partitions, 0, runningfrom the grat- My invention relates to refrigerator cars ining to thebottom, into a series of small chamtended for use in the transportationof perbers, 0 In each of these small chambers a ishable articles longdistances, during which flue, D, is provided by extending partitions,they are preserved by maintaining a low ded, across the chambers andleaving the 20 gree of temperature within the cars. Ice is space betweenthem open at both top, botgenerally employed for this purpose and thetom and front, as seen 1n Fig. 2. These parinvention relates to thisclass of cars in which titions do not extend quite up to the grating iceis introduced and the circulation and chilland at the top are coveredwith wire gauze or 7 ing of the air within the car is effected byinperforated metal, cl, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3.

2 5 duced currents. It is evident that the drip from the ice is re- Theinvention relates to certain improveceived in these several smallchambers below ments, whereby I am enabled to successfully the grating,in which it is retained until the use an overhead ice tank, either withor withwater reaches the top of the fiues, when it So out end tanks;while at the same time the obpasses out through the perforated cover and0 jectionable results, generally attending the falls to the drlp pan.The air coming down use of overhead tanks, are obviated. through the icetanks also passes into these I will now give a particular description ofsmall lower chambers where it is brought in the construction andoperation of a car in contact with the ice water and finds its outwhichI have embodied my invention in one let down through or out at the frontof the 5 practical way and will then point out more flues to the spacebelow the tank which definitely in claims the special improvements opensinto the body of the car at the bottom which I believe to be new andwish to secure thereof. The front of the ice tank, 0 stands by LettersPatent. a little back of the front 17 0f the chamber, so

In the drawings, A represents the body of as to leave a space between,and it extends 40 the car, a, being the side walls, a, the end up onlyabout as far as this front of the chamwalls, a the bottom, and a theroof, all of her. The back, 0 of the ice tank is also set which are ofany ordinary construction used a little way in front of the back of thechamin refrigerator cars. her, so as to leave a space between the two as9 5 At each end of the car is an ice chamber, seen in Fig. 1. This backextends to the top 5 B, the upper section, b, of which extends enof thecar and at its upper end is provided tirely across the car, while thelower portion, with a ser es of holes, 0 I also provide an is f h t lesswidth than the car, so overhead ice tank or holder, E, which is aras toleave a free space between it and the reranged in the top of the car andextends from too spective sides of the car, as seen in Fig. 2. one endto the other thereof, opening at each 50 The upper and wider section I)of the chamend into the end we tanks O, as seen in Figs. ber extendsdown into the car only a short 1 and 2. The bottom of th1s overhead tankdistance, the main body being the lower and is composed of slatted orgrated sections, 6,

at each side and between the two a solid section, 6', a small space oropening being left between the middle section or table and the gratings.This tank is of less width than the interior of the car and the uprightsides 6 extend in across the end ice chambers and tanks, as seen inFigs. 1 and 2, but there is an opening or space 0 within the ice tank 0between the lower edge of these sides and the upper ends of the tank,which opening provides for the admission of air into the tanks 0, andconstitutes the inlets thereto, as seen in Fig. 2. V

Underneath the overhead tank E are supplementary bottoms, F, one beingarranged and extending along underneath each of the gratings of the tankabove, but a free space is left between the two at the middle of the cardirectly underneath the solid or central table of the overhead tank.These supplementary bottoms extend out at each side-a little beyond thebottom of the overhead tank and at their outer edges have upright sides,f,

extending up not quite to the roof of the car. There is also space leftbetween these upright sides and the sides of the car proper. It will beseen then that this construction provides a passage for air up betweenthe sides of the car and these uprights f, and over the upper edges ofthe latter, at the ends thereof down into the end ice tanks, as seen atthe right of Fig. 2, and between the two end chambers down into thespace below the overhead tank, as seen at the. left of Fig. 2. At theinner edges of the bottoms F, there is a Vertical strip, f, whichprojectsboth above 7 and below the bottoms, as seen in Fig. 2. There isthus formed under each grating of the overhead tank a long shallow drippan, which receives the water formed bythe melting of the ice above.Preferably these bottoms are provided with a metallic lining, f to makethem better suited for the service as drip pans. The ends of the pansextend in until they nearly meet the fronts of the end ice tanks 0, sothat the water collected therein will be discharged against the saidfronts and *of the car passes in over the upright sides f along thepassage underneath the long gratings and over the ice water in the panbottoms F and out over the inner edge of the latter, as indicated by thearrows in Fig. 2. The top of the central table 6 is covered with sheetmetal, 6 the edges being extended over the edges of the table and bentdownward at an incline as seen at e in Fig. 2 to provide guides for thedrip from this table. There are also metal strips, e fastened to theunderside of this table near each lateral edge and extending downwardand outward over the respective pans F, which also serve, as guides, toprevent the drip from flying out into the center of the car and alsodirect the air around underneath theirlower edges and prevent it fromcoming into contact with the bottom of this table, which will, ofcourse, be very cold, as ice rests upon it, and would tend to producecondensation. As a further aid to this eifect I also attachsupplementary strips, 6 to the bottom of the table, which strips areinclined inward and downward until they meet about centrally below thetable, as seen in Fig. 2. There is thus formed an air space below thetable, which prevents the chilling of these inclined strips, withwhichthe interior air of the car comes in contact and so condensation isprevented.

With this construction it will be seen that both end and sidecirculation of air is induced, so that there is no possibility ofstagnation of the air in any part of the car. At the same time with theappliances which have been described I avoid condensation upon icechilled surfaces within the body of the car, which has been an objectionto the use of overhead tanks heretofore. I also utilize the cold dripfrom the ice which is always at a very low temperature, especially ifsalt is used, which is a very common expedient. -The openings 12 in thefront of the ice chamber obviate any tendency to stagnation at thispoint, as the air will p ass in through these.

openings and coming in contact with the chilled front of the ice tanksdrop down the spacebetween the two and out at the bottom. So too theopenings 0 in the upper part of the tank back provide for circulation ofair at the back of the ice tank, as indicated by arrows in Fig. 2. Alarge chilling surface is obtained with the construction describedabove, with provision for securing movement and circulation of the airin all parts of the car, and at the same time the danger of drip fromchilled surfaces extending into or pro jecting over the body of the caris obviated.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a refrigerator car, the ice tank 0 pro vided with a series ofwater chambers 0 arranged below the ice body, in combination with fiuesD set in said chambers extending part way to the top thereof andprovided with perforated covers d, substantially as described."

2. In a refrigerator car, the ice tanks, 0, arranged within the icechambers, B, at each end of the car so as to leave a space between thetanks and the chambers, and the up right sides, e and f, with othersuitable de vices so arranged as to provide an air passage between theside of the car and the sides, f, up over the top thereof, and downthrough the ice tanks, 0, under the side, o in the re the sides, f, asto allow an air passage up over the sides, f, and down on the outside ofthe tank, E, and underneath the grated bottom of the tank, and out, intothe top of the center of the refrigerating chamber, substantially asdescribed.

DENNIS W. RIORDAN.

Witn esses:

CARRIE FEIGEL, A. M. BEsT.

